


Sur-Mesure

by onei



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Erwin well Erwin tries his best, Levi is humanity's most fashionable, Light-Hearted, M/M, POV Erwin Smith, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Rated T because of Levi's potty mouth for now, Rating will likely go up later because smut, Zeke is antagonizing Levi again, this is mostly silly tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26427796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onei/pseuds/onei
Summary: No one could get Levi, Editor-In-Chief of fashion magazine Survey Mode, flustered. No one.Enter newly recruited Legal Affairs Manager (and ugly dress shirt aficionado) Erwin Smith.
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 60
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw [this](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e4/78/6b/e4786b74f08ab3caea6b18fd023cbb42.jpg) look on twitter and thought about Levi in it and it somehow evolved into this AU idea living in my head rent free for weeks.
> 
> I'm a few chapters in so far, I hope I'll be able to maintain a regular updating schedule I already have a good idea of where I want this to go but we'll see. 
> 
> I do not work in the fashion industry, this is not meant to be 100% accurate I hope I don't offend anyone with the stupidity !! Just for clarification Erwin's job is to review article/issue content before they're published to avoid libel and to insure everything is copyrighted as it should + brand/product registration + any other publishing law related concern (hence why he's looking into the plagiarism issue). I stalked like 3 linkedin profiles for this so this should actually exist dsfdsfds though I might have mashed up 2 jobs into 1.

Levi had a headache. 

Now, don't get him wrong, Levi always got headaches on the day following Fashion Week, the dizzying mixture of continuous loud music, countless camera flashes blinking at his face at every moment of the day and dozens of voices of journalists screaming for " _Just a word about the new Armor collection, Levi, please"_ always etching itself into his mind to turn into unbearable migraines. 

But not often did those migraines feel like a Beast had comfortably settled itself underneath his skull and was playing around hurling boulders at every corner of his brain all at once. 

Today, Levi had a **_headache._ **

He still hadn't recovered from Rod Reiss blabbering his ear off at the _Colossus_ afterparty the day before about the grand plans he had for his newly opening boutiques in Orvud and how he would take over the city and blah blah blah. He wasn't able to shake him off lest he was willing to take the risk of having Petra, his dearest CFO, screech at him for hours on end for not behaving like a perfectly docile fanboy before one of their biggest investors, and so he had had no choice but to pretend he was avidly listening to the man's endless rants, hmm-ing and ah-ing when it seemed necessary.

Then, his Stohess to Trost flight had been delayed by more than one hour, only fueling his annoyance.

Then, this very morning, his personal assistant had messed up his morning tea because the boy still hadn't understood that morning tea was the more caffeinated black tea blend _goddamn it Eren where the fuck did you even find chamomile herbal tea_?!

 _Then_ , Hange, his COO, had barged into his office before he had even had the chance to boot his computer, seething as they uttered "Zeke. Jaeger. Meeting room, now." before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away from his desk, which could only mean bad news. 

And _now_ , on top of all of that, here he was, sitting in front of this fucking monstrosity. Who the fuck wore a black and white checkered shirt under a brown vest? Who had allowed this? 

As hypnotized as he was by the hideous sight before his eyes, he was brought back to reality by Hange's voice and instead focused his stare on them where they sat, next to the Offending Vision. 

"Good morning, I am sorry I dragged you guys here so early in the morning but as you know, our dearest Zeke Jaeger has struck again," Hange said. "He has addressed all of the Board a lovely message threatening to sue for plagiarism over our last issue cover. Levi, I forwarded it to you. I don't know if you've had the occasion to read it over?" 

Levi blinked, "Well. No, I haven't. Considering I was dragged here first thing in the morning and all. You know."

Hange continued, not looking the slightest bit fazed or apologetic,"Anyway, here is the email for those who haven't seen it yet or need a refresher, " they said before connecting the video projector to their laptop and displaying the offending message.

Levi read it over quickly, slowly feeling the Beast playing baseball with all the pain receptors in his brain turn into an ugly (well, more like ugli _er_ , if you asked Levi) caricature of Zeke Jaeger as he went.

He rolled his eyes at the last sentence.

_PS. Tell ur boss to unblock me!!_

Indeed, zeke.jaeger[@]fashionwarrior.com had gained a privileged place within Levi's blocklist years ago. So had zeke.jaeger2[@]fashionwarrior.com. And z.jaeger[@]fashionwarrior.com. And stopblockingmelevi[@]fashionwarrior.com. At this point, Levi was actually thinking of contacting the douchebag's IT department to ask if they wanted to team up with him to sue their boss for targeted harassment.

With _Survey Mode_ and _Fashion Warrior_ being the biggest fashion magazines around, it was almost natural that a rivalry would develop. Levi had never really invested time or energy in it, had actually gotten bored of it around 2 years ago, preferring to focus on his own work, but Jaeger had been relentless, trying to strike him down at every turn like Levi had killed the person he had dedicated his life and heart to and he was now only living to seek revenge. Or something.

The douchebag had gotten worse a year ago, after Eren had joined _Survey Mode_ instead of taking up a job as an Editor for _Fashion Warrior._ Levi hadn't even known Eren was Jaeger's half-brother when he had stumbled on him completely by accident, while browsing through an exhibition dedicated to amateur fashion designers. 

He had had no choice but to stop in front of one of the booths, the exhibited pieces simply magnificent, the fabric of dresses and shirts and pants weaved in with pure, raw talent Levi could almost see brought into life before his eyes. The designer had gasped immediately upon seeing him in front of his display, introducing himself as Eren before asking insistently if there was room for him in _Survey Mode_. Levi had warned him that he would have to start from the bottom while he worked on nurturing that raw talent of his, and that he could offer no more than a Personal Assistant role in the meantime, but the boy had readily accepted.

Levi had never regretted his choice despite it resulting in (the other) Jaeger breathing down his neck every day (instead of the previous, more lenient frequency of every _other_ day), as Eren's eye had actually ended up proving to be a really nice addition to some of his decision making, and he actually had plans to make better use of the boy's talent in the near future. His tea making skills sucked ass anyway. 

Levi sighed and looked at Isabel where she was sitting on his right, arms crossed and jaw clenched, Farlan by her side.

As his Head Stylist felt his eyes on her, she exclaimed with huge eyes, "We did _not_ plagiarize anything, Levi, I swear. We worked on that issue cover together, so you know, right?"

Of course they had worked on that issue’s cover together, just like they did for every single one of _Survey_ 's covers. Levi always insisted on actively overseeing the conception of the upcoming monthly issue’s cover. Isabel, Farlan - his Head of Photography - and him were a trio. Had always been, would always feed off of each others’ ideas, their synergy unmatched. If one asked Levi, then he’d say that both Farlan and Isabel were an integral part to the magazine’s success, the reason why the monthly issue covers were always so anticipated and garnered so many reactions upon publishing.

By trying to point out plagiarism on a cover, Jaeger was pointing the finger at both him personally _and_ his team. 

Levi rubbed at his temples.

"Of course I know, Isabel," he did not get to continue his train of thoughts as he saw a hand raised in the corner of his eye. 

As he turned to look back in front of him, he saw that the hand was attached to the person who had dared bestow the sight of the monstrous checkered shirt and vest combination upon his tired eyes. 

He stared at the blond man blankly for a few seconds, the slight smile on the guy's face never waning under his gaze. After a few seconds, the dude had the _gall_ to raise his ridiculously bushy eyebrows as if to say, _Well?._

Levi frowned even deeper in response. He had been determined to ask the man the two questions that were burning his lips (1. Did you fucking look at yourself in the mirror this morning before going out? 2. Who the fuck are you even?) before but if Blondie wanted to play that game with Levi then this could go on for a long time and he, self-proclaimed I'll Stare You Down In Silence Until You Leave My Sight champion, would _not_ be the one to lose.

It was Hange that interrupted them by clearing their throat, "Levi, this is Erwin Smith, Keith's replacement as Intellectual Property & Legal Affairs manager. He started on Monday, while you were away," They smiled _way_ too sweetly for it to be genuine in Levi's direction before continuing, "I will introduce you both properly after the meeting. In the meantime, Erwin, please go on." 

Smith lowered his still raised hand at that, nodding at Hange. 

"Thank you, Hange. I just wanted to say that I did take a look at the pictures _Survey_ supposedly plagiarized and there is no way Jaeger could make a case out of them, so his threats of suing are definitely unfounded. But I think we all knew that already. He could throw these accusations on the internet though. Manipulate and exaggerate the data a little bit and you will have drama loving people and gossip sites eating out of your hands,” he turned towards Levi, “I heard through the marketing team that some Warrior photoshoots seemed oddly similar to photographs shot by Farlan’s team before. I can have Armin look them over, see if they constitute plagiarism in the actual sense of the word. If they do, we do not have to start any procedure whatsoever, but we can keep them on the side as ammo in case Jaeger actually tries something.”

Hange started talking again once Erwin was done, “I need your call on this, Levi, that’s why I wanted you here. I know your policy when it comes to Jaeger is to just ignore him but this is going too far. And it’s not just that.” In lieu of further explanations, Hange opened a browser page on their laptop, and typed in “www.ymirstea.com”. 

Levi almost cursed out loud. What _now_?

He got his answer when the page loaded and the tacky pink and yellow layout of the website he had had the displeasure of getting familiar with in the last years filled the wall Hange had projected their laptop's screen on. 

The first headline on the page read _“Is Humanity’s Most Fashionable also Humanity’s Most Unfaithful?!”_. Underneath the title, a collage of three different pictures of Levi going in what he recognized as the hotel he was staying in in the last few days with three different men stood. 

Hange clicked on the article's title to load the rest of it before clearing their throat and reading its content aloud in an exaggerated voice.

 _“Hello there, Cultists! Guess who I have juicy, JUICY news about in this very fine post Stohess fashion week morning,” the article read, “that’s right! Our favourite teeny_ (," Levi scoffed, ") _Fashion Guru had nice, varied company during the week winkwink. Can we blame him, fellow Cultists?_

_But, ah… I don't know about you guys but I kinda feel sorry for his rumoured boyfriend (depicted left on the picture)... :(_

_Or are they… y'know… Open? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

_Whaddya think, Cultists???"_

"Wait. Is that me? And Eld? And Nile Dok?? Hey now, since when am I rumoured to be your boyfriend?", Farlan exclaimed as soon as Hange was done with their performance, questions spouting out of his mouth one after the other with urgency. 

"Since this girl has decided to make my life a living hell, Farlan," Levi answered. 

That Ymir girl had been on Levi's ass for years now with no sign of stopping, reporting "breaking news" to her blog readers and 100k+ following on Twitter - her "Cultists", as she called them, don't fucking ask Levi why - as well as just generally writing every ridiculous piece that went through her vicious mind and involved Levi (e.g. the great Levi/Grumpy Cat debacle of 2014 which Hange had taken to calling The Incident That Shall Not Be Named due to Levi's fury at the mere thought of being associated with that fucking cat). 

Levi clicked his tongue. 

"Eld's fiancée is going to love this," he snorted derisively. "Anyhow, I am very sorry you had to be involved in this farce, Farlan. Eld and Dok as well." 

This was ridiculous. Levi had flown Farlan and Eld, one of his Senior Editors, out for the most part of the week because they were respectively in charge of the shoots and the content of the Fashion Week feature for the next issue. Dok he hadn't even really invited, the guy was the Director of _Survey_ 's printing house which was based in Stohess, and Hange and Gunther, his Production Manager, always insisted he meet him at least once a year to keep up a good relationship between their companies. Well look where that had gotten him, now people thought he was sleeping with him. As if he would actually have sex with someone who insisted on keeping a stupid fucking goatee on their face. What an insult.

Levi was pulled out of his thoughts when Optical Illusion Shirt asked, "If I may, how do you know that this is Zeke Jaeger's doing?"

Hange sighed, "We do not have concrete evidence, unfortunately, but one of our biggest investors' daughter seems to be somehow involved with this Ymir girl, and word got out."

Erwin turned towards Levi, "I could look into this, if you wish."

"No," Levi cut him off sharply, "These are personal matters of mine, they are attacking me as a public figure and as such, I will not have company resources used on this matter."

Levi saw Hange opening their mouth and quickly continued before they could say anything, "Hange, ignore Jaeger for the time being. In the meantime, Smith, I would indeed appreciate you looking if we have evidence of any plagiarism done by _Warrior_. Just in case, so we have something to eventually throw back if Jaeger keeps insulting my team." 

Levi briefly locked eyes with Smith, watching him nod and then turning back to Hange, "Was that all, then?" 

Once again, he cut Hange off when they opened their mouth before they could actually say anything, "Good. Everyone have a nice day, then." 

Levi watched as Farlan and Isabel gathered their belongings and filed out of the room. He briefly patted Isabel on the back as she passed him by, jaw still clenched in anger, and nodded at Farlan as he gave him a tight-lipped smile. 

Before he could step out of the room himself, Hange stopped him. 

"Before you go, Levi. I wanted to formally introduce you to Erwin. As I said earlier, he is Keith's replacement. He used to work at _Walls_ under Zackley Darius, so he has already experienced a great deal when it comes to Legal Affairs related to the publishing world."

Levi turned to the man, and as he looked to him in his full standing glory, realized his ugly shirt was tucked into freaking _khakis_. At least that outfit of his was consistently ugly, from the bottom to the top. 

Erwin smiled at him, apparently blissfully unaware of the crime he had committed against the world (and Levi) this morning when he'd gone to his closet and picked up this mess of an outfit. 

"It is lovely to finally meet you, M. Ackerman," the man said.

Levi looked up at the man and replied flatly, "Likewise. And it's Levi,” he paused, “So, _Walls_ huh? Hope you have better taste in couches and carpets than you do in fashion." 

Erwin's blue eyes slowly, slowly widened. Levi braced himself for his reaction, but the man actually ended up breaking into loud laughter after a few seconds. 

Through his career, Levi had seen a number of types of reactions to his dry (rather rude, he knew) remarks. People had blushed, glared, cried, told him to go fuck himself. But laughter? Now that was a new one. Levi narrowed his eyes at the unexpected reaction. 

Weirdo. 

"Well, it's a good thing I am working under Humanity's Most Fashionable," Levi internally cringed at the nickname he had come to hate, "Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you," Erwin said before _winking_ at Levi. 

What was _wrong_ with this dude?

Erwin looked at the time on his phone before continuing, "I have another meeting in a few minutes so I am going to go, if that is okay with the both of you?" 

Hange nodded, "Sure Erwin, sorry again for dragging you here so early in the morning."

Erwin smiled at them, "It really is no problem." He turned to Levi, eyes still crinkled at the corners from his smile, before he said, "You know where to find me if you change your mind about the Ymir issue. I respect that you consider that personal matters, but should it start seriously affecting the company as opposed to just your personal life then I really would not mind looking into it. "

He gave them both a two fingered salute (what the _fuck_ ) before going out of the room.

Levi, who had absolutely _not_ been stunned to silence by the man's unexpected behaviour, absolutely did _not_ watch his khaki clad butt walk away until the door closed behind him.

Next to him, Hange sighed, "He is right, you know. There comes a point where this might start affecting the company as a whole. This is unfair to you, but investors might pull out at the slightest hint of you having an image that is anything other than perfect. You know how some of them are."

Levi just hummed noncommittally, eyes still fixed on the meeting room's door. 

He was brought back to reality by Hange's face entering his field of view, a maniacal glint in their eyes and a deranged grin suddenly appearing on their face, their previous, grave expression wiped, as if it had never been there. 

"Levi," they said in a singing voice.

"Don't," he immediately told them, eyes set in a glare.

They raised their hands, palms towards Levi in a gesture of surrender, though the attempt to placate him was betrayed by the smirk on their face, "I didn't even say anything."

Levi ignored them and got up from his chair to start walking towards the door, Hange following suit. 

"I have to say though, it has been a while since I have seen you get so flustered," they said as they trailed after him and out of the room. 

Levi did not look back at them, instead elongating his strides as much as his short legs allowed him to.

"Just go back to your office Hange, I don't pay you to be a fucking nosy creep during work hours," he threw over his shoulder.

The last thing he heard as he took a left in the hallway was, "Technically, you don't pay me, Levi! Petra does!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again thank you for reading! please do tell me what you think so far, i'm a baby writer and english is not my native language so i rly appreciate criticism <3  
> Also I have an [ aot twitter side acc ](https://twitter.com/ackerbnd) if you wanna hmu on there and cry with me about chapter 132 <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! thank you so much for the kudos and the comments on the 1st chapter!!!

If you'd asked Erwin what he knew about fashion a few weeks ago, he would have just shrugged and told you, "Not much."

If you asked his good friend Mike what _he_ knew about fashion, he would also shrug and tell you, "Not much." 

And yet, the man had been working at _Survey Mode_ for years now. It was quite a funny story that Nanaba loved retelling to whoever was willing to listen, sometimes multiple times. Mike had been hired as an Assistant Editor at the magazine for the Culture features and online articles, after years of working for a local newspaper. 

"And then," Nanaba would say, "One day, he stumbled upon a photoshoot _totally_ by accident. Except it wasn't just any shoot, Erwin, it was the one for the issue cover. And everyone in _Survey_ knows that the first rule of _Survey Mode_ is: you shall not fuck with Levi while he's on set for the next issue cover," She would recite earnestly, "But here comes this oaf, loudly opening the door, and do you know what he did next, Erwin? " 

And Erwin would humour her, shaking his head, before she continued, "He _sneezed_. The fucker sneezed and just stood there and went 'Oh sorry, I'm sensitive to tuberose and lily' !" 

Mike would interrupt to say, "I believe it was tuberose and iris, actually." 

Nanaba would just shush him and continue, "So Levi turns to face him, right?" This is where she would clear her throat and put on an exaggerated frown and a caricature of a raspy deadpan voice, " 'What the _fuck_ did you just say?' Listen Erwin, I have rarely heard a silence so deafening. It was so uncomfortable I almost packed up my palettes and tools and fucked right off. I thought he was gonna get fired right here and there, when I hadn't even shot my shot," she would say, sighing and shaking her head in dismay.

"But then Levi just started retrieving perfumes from everywhere and spraying them in Mike's face and asking him to tell him what the head notes-"

"Top notes, Nanaba-"

"-Whatever notes were and, next thing I know, we have a Perfume feature in the magazine every month and Mike is in charge of it." And Mike would nod with that characteristic little smile of his on his face.

So if Mike and his endless collection of unicolor v-necks (short _and_ long sleeves) and denim jeans had managed to make room for himself in this magazine then surely Erwin could as well, right? 

There were multiple different factors that had led him to apply for the job opening in _Survey_ Mike and Nanaba had told him about, his friends' stories about their experience at the company actually contributing greatly to his decision.

Indeed, it wasn't really the Manager position that did it: he could have gotten that at _Walls_. Dot Pixis, his former manager, was close to retirement age and had implied several times that the job could be Erwin's if he wanted it. It would have been the easy way to go about it for him, actually. But he was getting bored at _Walls_ , felt like he had done the grand tour already and that there was not much left for him to discover there. 

Meanwhile, Nanaba and Mike's stories about Survey told of an environment that was a lot more dramatic, very much in constant motion. And Erwin (to Mike's great dismay, when he told him that) was attracted to its franticness, to the passion that seemed to animate the people that worked there, regardless of the drawbacks related to the stress that could bring. 

Pixis had been exceptionally understanding of his decision, had even gone out of his way to support his application. Erwin was grateful to him for it, knew that had most likely played a role in him being chosen for the job.

Finally getting to meet Levi was… Something. He knew what the man looked like, had shamelessly looked him up on the internet after one too many stories about him courtesy of Mike and Nanaba, curiosity about the man who made interns cower and designers from all over the world line their collections up to be displayed in his magazine taking over him. But seeing him in real life was nothing like looking through the pixelated version of him as it had been captured through furtive lenses.

Levi Ackerman was magnetic. As tired and annoyed as he had looked on that particular day, the man just grabbed people's attention without even trying. 

Erwin did not even mind the dig at his fashion sense, he knew he was useless in this department. After the tales he’d heard about Levi from his friends, he was expecting worse, to be quite honest. Erwin could proudly say that it took a bit more than that to make him lose his cool.

His next days at work were spent adjusting to his new job and getting to know his colleagues. His meeting with Hange and Levi only popped back up in his mind when Armin knocked on the open door of his office one day, two different magazines under his left arm. 

When Erwin smiled gently at him and told him to enter, Armin deposited one of the magazines on his desk, opening it to a dog eared page.

"This is from the April issue of _Survey_ from a few years ago. This particular spread was shot to accompany this article," Armin pointed to the title, which read _'Hommage to Sina, Maria, and Rose: The Origins Of Fashion'_ , "The photoshoot was directed by Farlan Church, head of Photography."

Erwin took a look at the photographs that spread through the pages following the article. Even he, with his infinitely meagre culture when it came to fashion, knew of the three sisters who had been said to revolutionize the art of clothing for women and men alike.

The set itself was not particularly original but nonetheless beautiful, the oceanside backdrop beautifully complementing the three models and the clothes they wore, old fashion woven through modern, avant garde even, dresses and shirts and pants, sometimes merging with the water, sometimes flowing in the seaside wind in a way that Erwin had no doubt was completely intentional down to every centimeter.

He could only wish he knew enough about the history of fashion to understand all the references, the statements that were surely made through the pictures, both about the clothes and the designers the three women were supposed to represent. This was not just a classic exhibition of clothes. The outfits were tools, all carefully selected to animate a wordless tale. In return, the beautiful picture served in highlighting the nature of the garments.

When Erwin was done looking through the pictures, Armin opened the other magazine in his hands, "And here is what we think is the _Warrior_ version of that pictorial. This is the issue from June of this year."

Erwin looked through the pictures. Oceanside backdrop, check. Three female models, check. Mix of modern and old fashioned clothing, check. He browsed through glossy pages, noticing that the photoshoot stood out in an odd way among the rest of the magazine.

He quickly figured out the origin of that feeling: the other photoshoots in the magazine, the issue cover, even, were much different than the ones in _Survey_. 

The focus of the _Warrior_ pictorials were very obviously the clothes themselves, or the people wearing them. The photographs were beautiful still, but from what Erwin could see from at least this one issue, the approach was not the same as _Survey_ 's, the garments and the models remaining at the center of every photograph. Like the background was there to solely highlight them.

Still…

"This alone cannot constitute a case of plagiarism. An oceanside background in a June issue… That would be getting down to Jaeger's level in terms of throwing around stupid accusations. But I am guessing there is more to this. Am I right, Armin?" 

Indeed, he had not known the young man for long, but had spent enough time with him to figure out just how brilliant he was, the knowledge that he could rely on his capability as well as his personal history in _Survey_ for at least his first months on the job a comforting thought.

Armin nodded. He put the _Survey_ photoshoot back in front of Erwin's eyes, "See these?" he said as he pointed first to an elaborate floral print silk scarf bordered in dark red that was tied around one of the models' neck in a neat bow. He then turned the page and pointed out a silver voluminous skirt, the subtle stripes that filled the garment looking as if they were made of metallic thread, adding a sheen to it and making it glint and shine in the sunlight.

He directed his finger towards the side of the page, where the credits to the designers and stylists were written down. Erwin read the section over quickly and nodded, "The skirt and the scarf are not credited to any brand or person."

"Exactly. But I might know where they come from," Armin said, a glint in his eye, "And if my sources are right then I am pretty sure they were created specifically for the photoshoot. And yet, it looks like _Warrior_ went out of their way to look for similar pieces. That is too much of a coincidence." 

Erwin rubbed at his chin, "You are right. Well then, we just have to confirm the origin of the clothes, yes?"

"Indeed but, ah, well, Erwin…" Armin smiled sheepishly, "This is actually where I might need your help."

And that is how Erwin found himself on the 15th floor of the building, knocking on the door adorned with a plaque that read "L. Ackerman".

A young man opened the door, big green eyes blinking at him. 

Erwin introduced himself, "I'm Erwin Smith, the new Legal Affairs and Intellectual Property Manager. I wanted to schedule an appointment with Levi and was told to come see you directly?" 

He saw a flash of recognition go through the young man's eyes, "Armin's manager, right?" Erwin nodded. The young man continued, "He told me you would swing by. This is about the Rose, Sina and Maria shoot, isn't it?", he asked, moving himself to the side so Erwin could access the office. "I'm Eren Jaeger, Levi's personal assistant."  
  
“Nice to meet you, Eren. Indeed, that is what I wish to discuss with him. I don’t need much time, If he has anywhere near half an hour to spare for me sometime, it’d be absolutely perfect.”

The room's design was minimalist and modern, the floor immaculate white marble, the walls just as white and pristine. Facing Erwin was a tinted glass door; Levi's actual office, he guessed. On the right, a single desk stood, most likely Eren's, large, its beige design the only thing in the room disrupting the black and white pattern aside from the potted green plants in the corners of the room. On the other side, on Erwin's right, was a sleek black couch, facing a low coffee table. Eren gestured towards the couch and Erwin complied, sitting down in one of the corners.

He watched as Eren knocked on the glass door. He got a, "What do you want, brat?", for his efforts which left him visibly unfazed as he just opened the door and disappeared behind it, no other reaction showing on his face. 

He re-emerged a few seconds later, head poking through the gap he had created where he had partially opened the door, and faced Erwin, "He can actually spare some time for you in fifteen minutes because of another postponed appointment, would that be okay for you?"

Well, that was unexpected but Erwin certainly wouldn’t complain. Hee smiled at the young man, "It'd be perfect, thank you, Eren."

Eren nodded before disappearing again, to confirm his availability to Levi, Erwin guessed. 

When he came back out, he told Erwin, "Levi will come get you in 15 minutes. You can wait here, if you want." before sitting down at his desk. 

Erwin nodded, "I'll do that, thank you." before sitting down and shooting out a quick email on his work cell phone to Armin so that he could bring him the _Warrior_ and _Survey_ issues.

He watched as Eren retrieved the pencil that had been nestled behind one of his ears. Soon enough, the sound of scribbling on a paper reached his ears. Was Eren _drawing_?

Erwin took another look around the room and noticed a mannequin and a clothes hanger leaning against the wall where the door he had entered the office through was, bright colours contrasting against the white backdrop. 

He must have been staring for a few seconds too long, as the scribbling stopped. 

"You can take a closer look if you want, I don't mind," Eren said.

Erwin got up and closer to the hanger, observing the different pieces. There weren't that many, just a few dresses as well as a few shirts, but he could see a theme between them, almost as if they belonged to the same collection, the similarities in colours and patterns binding them together in a way, although each of them still remained unique.

"You like them?" he heard Eren say behind him. 

When he turned to face the boy, he realised he had a notebook open in front of him, a sketch of a faceless man taking up the whole page, a three piece suit drawn on. Even though the work on the page was still in progress, Erwin knew the outfit was meant to belong with the ones that had been brought to life and put on the hanger before him. 

Erwin smiled, "Well, I am not well versed enough in fashion to give you a full critique, but I would say they look quite nice.” He looked at the clothes and back at the notebook, "Did you…"

"Design these?" Eren said, pointing at the clothes, "No, they’re not mine, but I'm hoping this baby," he gestured to the open notebook with his chin, "will join them."

Interesting.

"So you're into design, then?"

"I am,” Eren answered, “I do both design and sewing, actually." 

"That’s interesting. It's nice that you get to do some of it on the job."

Eren laughed, "It's rather unusual, isn't it? A Personal Assistant for an Editor in Chief who gets to draw fashion pieces on the job. But that's Levi for you. "

"But… Why are you not on the Design team, if I may ask?" Erwin asked. "Feel free not to answer, I wouldn't want my curiosity to make you uncomfortable," he added with a little smile. 

"Oh, I don't mind. It's a funny story, actually. I kind of, uh, insisted on working for Levi after we met at an amateur Design exhibition. He liked my designs but said they weren't matured enough. Which was not wrong," Eren shrugged, "I'm not exactly classically trained, was never meant to go into designing in the first place, my family wanted me elsewhere. But working alongside Levi… I actually get to see so much, I meet tons of different people in the industry, and most of all I get his opinion on my improvement as a designer. I think a lot of people would actually like being in my seat. His vision is one of a kind, you know. That’s why so many people look up to him. " 

"And what happens next for you, then?" Erwin asked. 

"Well, I can't say too much about what I'm doing or Levi will have my head," Eren said sheepishly, "But let’s just say that I know he will help if he thinks my designs are worth it." 

Erwin nodded, "You really trust him, don't you?" 

Eren smiled, "The whole team does.” 

Eren went back to his drawing after that and Erwin sat back down on the couch, the only interruption of their silence being Armin’s arrival with the magazines. He watched as the young man cheerfully greeted Eren before turning to him and handing him the issues. He thanked him, feeling sorry as he saw him heave slightly for breath, as if he had run all the way here. 

Once Armin left, they lapsed back into comfortable silence.

And then, a thought suddenly struck him.

Wait. 

“Did you say your name was Jaeger?”

Eren blinked, “Indeed.” 

Erwin opened his mouth but thought twice about asking the question that was burning his lips. He was too inquisitive, he knew. It could be a perk sometimes, but his mother had often tutted at him and told him his questions could sometimes go a bit too far. 

He had already pushed his luck with all his questions in the last few minutes. He could not help it, his intrigue about anything related, even indirectly, to Levi, spurring him on. But the last thing he wanted was to satisfy his curiosity at the cost of Eren feeling uncomfortable.  
  
Eren tilted his head, his messy bun following the movement, “It’s okay, I get questions often, I really don’t mind. Zeke is my half-brother.”

Before Erwin could ask any more questions, the glass door opened, Levi emerging from his office and setting his eyes on him, expression blank. 

“You have 20 minutes,” he said before disappearing again behind the door, the small heel of his leather ankle boots clicking on the shiny marble tile flooring with each step. 

Erwin followed suit, entering the office as Levi sat down in his large office desk chair, adjusting the black jacket he wore over his shoulders before he crossed his arms and legs. Erwin took a few seconds to let his gaze sweep over the spacious office, which was furnished in the same minimalist, black and white fashion as the anteroom. Levi fit right in the décor, clothed in the shades of black, white and grey he was known for always wearing (not that Erwin had learned that from reading gossip articles about the man, or anything). 

Levi wordlessly nodded to one of the chairs in front of his desk. 

Erwin sat down and opened the conversation by saying, “Nice tie.”

Levi just blinked at him, expression still blank, “It’s a cravat.”

Erwin did not miss a beat, “Nice cravat.”

Again, Levi kept his expression blank. “Thank you,” he said before letting his gaze travel down and up Erwin’s form. “Horrible shirt.”

The other man looked down at his white, blue paisley patterned dress shirt before slightly smiling at Levi, “Ah, well, I am sad to see that it is not to your taste. I have been told it brings out the color of my eyes.” His mother had been the one to tell him that, but Erwin figured Levi did not need to know of that particular detail.

Levi made a show out of looking at the screen of his phone, “You have 18 minutes left.”

Erwin did not let the man’s attitude get to him, nodding. 

“That should be enough,” he said. “As we have talked about before, I have had Armin look into what the marketing team presented as potential cases of plagiarism done by _Warrior._ I would appreciate it if you took a look at this photoshoot they did, if you please.” 

He set the magazine on the desk, opening it at the page Armin had dog-eared.

“We believe that, at the very least, parts of it have been plagiarized off of a _Survey_ photoshoot."

Levi quickly glanced at the spread in front of him, "The Sina, Rose, Maria one, right?"

"Exactly."

He heard Levi mutter under his breath about bearded bastards as he thumbed through the pages, before the man sighed. 

After a few seconds of silence he said, "What exactly are you here for? I have given my instructions already. I have a COO for a reason, I am pretty sure that has not escaped your attention. Considering you report to them."

"I will take it up with Hange, but first I actually need your confirmation about an element in the spread," he leaned over the magazine to point at the silk scarf Armin had pointed out when he had first shown him the photoshoot, "Did you happen to be the one who designed this piece?"

From his close vantage point, he could see Levi's eyes flash as they focused on the place where Erwin had set his finger. 

Levi opened his mouth and closed it again. He then said, "Yes. I am."

Erwin frowned but refrained from saying anything, instead just nodding.

 _'I checked with Eren, Levi's Personal Assitant. He thinks Levi might have been the one to do the designs but he's not sure.',_ Armin had told him, _'We need to confirm it, possibly directly with him._ ' And from the look Armin had shot Erwin, he had known what he really meant was _you_ need to confirm it because _I_ am not taking the risk to ask him myself.

Well he had the sought after confirmation now.

"The skirt on the next page as well?", Erwin asked. 

Levi nodded again, "Indeed." 

"Okay. Well. I have the information I need. Thank you," Erwin smiled, "See, 18 minutes was enough." 

Levi leaned back in his seat as Erwin himself leaned back from him and stood up. 

"Just a question," Erwin said, "Are these part of any brand?" 

"They aren’t. This was an important shoot. We didn't find the perfect clothes on the market,” Levi shrugged, ”So we created them solely for the occasion."

"Jaeger did manage to find equivalents, it looks like," Erwin said in what he hoped came out in a joking, teasing tone.

Levi looked at him wordlessly for a few seconds. Had he crossed the line? Was this it? Would he have to wax poetic about oak tables and leather single sofa chairs on his knees before Darius Zackley in hopes that he could recover his former job after Levi would wordlessly stare him down into dismissal? 

But then, the man clicked his tongue at him, "Do I really have to sit here and listen to critique coming from someone who looks like they dress in the dark every morning, now?"

Erwin laughed good naturedly at that, provoking Levi's thin eyebrows into a frown. He was pretty sure he heard him mutter something about him being a _weirdo_ but he chose to ignore it (it's not like he did not know, anyway. Erwin had an unshakable tendency of getting the giggles at the most inappropriate of times, he was well aware of that.)

"I deserved that," Erwin conceded. “You should at least credit yourself next time. How did my predecessor even let this pass when he reviewed the issue?" 

"You think he had a choice?"

Erwin raised his eyebrow, "I will not be so easy to bypass." 

Levi blinked and tilted his head, "Is that a challenge?" 

Erwin shrugged, "If you want it to be." 

“Just go back to work, Smith.”

“You’re the boss,” Erwin replied before turning towards the office’s door. He turned back around when he reached it, hand on the doorknob, to bid Levi goodbye.

Before he could say anything, the other man spoke up. 

“Hey, you know a great deal about brand protection and shit, don’t you?”

Erwin could have teased him, snarked that _“Well, it’s in my job title and description isn’t it?”_ \- only, one, he felt like he had already pushed his luck with the man today, and two, the envy was completely drained from him when he looked back at Levi. The man was still in his big chair, arms and legs crossed, only he did not look as confident and stoic as he had a few seconds earlier, eyes darting around.It was an almost imperceptible change, but Erwin was nothing if not observant enough to notice it.

And so Erwin chose _not_ to tease him and instead answered amiably, “I do, Levi.”

Levi nodded, seemingly regaining his composure as his steely gaze was back on Erwin’s, “You got some time on Thursday? I need a run down on the subject for a project I’m involved in.”

There were a hundred questions Erwin wanted to ask, but he chose to reign them in, figuring out that he would get his answers in time. He got his phone out to check his schedule, “Would you be free at 11?”

“11. Good. I’ll come to your office."

"Duly noted. Have a nice day, Levi."

Erwin took Levi's answering hum as an answer and exited the office.

The next day, he could not help but tell Nanaba and Mike about his encounter with the man when he met up with them for their usual lunchtime rendezvous in the company cafeteria.

"He isn't as bad as people say, not many people of his status let themselves be teased without taking it badly," he shrugged. 

Nanaba cocked her head, "Teased?"

Even Mike had raised his head from where he had been picking at a piece of lettuce on his plate. 

"I'm pretty sure the last time someone 'teased' him the guy found himself having to reorganize the shoes stock by brand and colour," he said once he was done munching on his mouthful of salad. 

"Yes, it was that one newbie, Daz, right? Poor dude looked like he was gonna piss himself that day," Nanaba added. 

"Guess he was in a good mood yesterday," Erwin shrugged, "He did insult my shirt though."

"Oh, did he now," Nanaba deadpanned, "Which one was it again?"

"The white one with the blue paisley pattern? I don't know if you remember it?"

"Oh, Erwin," she grimaced, "I do, unfortunately."

What was everyone's problem with that shirt? 

Mike vaguely gestured with his cherry tomato adorned fork, "I like that shirt. Brings out the colour of your eyes."

Erwin raised his eyebrows at Nanaba and gestured towards Mike as if to say, ' _See?!_ ' 

"You're both hopeless," she sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear there'll be more eruri soon!
> 
> hope you enjoyed, don't hesitate to tell me what you thought <333
> 
> if anyone's interested i actually made a [ pinterest ](https://www.pinterest.fr/almasies/survey-mode-au-inspo/) board as an aid for writing so i figured i'd share it, it's got imagery about levi's style, what i globally imagine survey/warrior to be like, the scarf and the skirt, etc 
> 
> til next time <33


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all the kudos and comments on the previous chapters aaahhh you guys are so sweet <3
> 
> levi is wearing the [outfit](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e4/78/6b/e4786b74f08ab3caea6b18fd023cbb42.jpg) that started this mess

Levi had gotten used to being gawked at during the last years, whether it was by employees in this very building or by random people in the street trying to figure out if that was really him and _hey I did not expect him to be this short._

The sensation had never gotten any less unpleasant and he doubted it ever would, in the future. 

He narrowed his eyes at the four identical, unblinking gazes fixated on him. 

"Do I need to repeat the question?" he said. 

A young blond man immediately shot up from his chair at his words, so swiftly it looked like he had been sitting on a spring ready to give way at the first signal. 

"That will not be necessary, M. Ackerman," he said hastily.

"Levi."

The young man just cocked his head, a blush on the high of his cheeks. 

"None of that M. Ackerman shit. Just Levi." 

The young man nodded, "Okay Mister- uh, Levi," he passed Levi as he walked briskly to the open space office's door, "I'll lead you to Erwin's office, please follow me."

Levi let his gaze sweep over the office one last time before turning to follow the young blond man out of the door, the three other people there doing a poor job of pretending they had gone back to work, their eyes darting in quick movements between their respective computer screens and Levi. 

The young man closed the door behind them once Levi got out, "I am very sorry about that, Sir," he said before starting down the hallway, "It's just that, well, ah, it's not exactly common to see you down here."

Levi hummed noncomitally, falling into step behind the young man. 

"You know Jaeger?"

The boy looked back at him with a confused look on his face, "Um, yes, I do, but, how- ?"

Levi wordlessly gestured at his grey pants with his chin. High quality look, wool -probably 100% virgin from the look of it-, deconstruction of the waistband that gave the piece an original, modern look, ample fit suited perfectly to the bearer's body in a way that hinted at a custom made garment. 

The young man gaped at him, "Indeed, that's his work, Sir." 

Levi just nodded. Of course it was. So was the cape he himself was wearing at the moment over his black sweater and grey trousers, crossing over his neck and falling over one arm only, draping over his shoulder but leaving the other arm free. 

They stopped in front of a door after a short walk, Levi noticing with a frown that he had gone right past it earlier. 

The young man knocked twice before raising himself on the tip of his toes to reach the circular office door window, presumably to let Smith know who he was. 

"Come in," he heard the man's muffled voice say on the other side of the door, the young man opening the door and stepping aside to let him in. 

Levi went in and was immediately met with the sight of Smith sitting at his desk in his spacious office.

The other man smiled at him.

"Hello, Levi," he greeted him before turning to the young man, "Thank you, Armin."

"You're welcome, Erwin. Have a nice day, Sir," he told Levi, who nodded at him in acknowledgement. 

The young man - Armin, Levi told himself - smiled at the two of them before leaving, closing the door behind him and thus leaving Erwin and Levi alone in the office. 

Levi adjusted his cape and walked the few steps to one of the chairs in front of Smith's desk, immediately sitting down and facing the man. 

"Don't you have a plaque for your office door? I walked right past it to your subordinates' office," Levi scowled. 

"Sorry for the confusion," Smith said, "My plaque hasn't been finished yet, but that's an issue that should be fixed soon." 

He raised one of his ridiculous eyebrows before continuing, "I haven't had much of a problem for these first weeks, people who usually look for me seem to know where to find me." 

"Do you think I often go gallivanting around in the hallways, Smith?" Levi asked before realising his mistake.

It was too late, he knew from the way a sparkle flashed across Smith's eyes for a second.

"Oh," he said, infuriating hints of a smirk on his infuriating face, "Am I special, then?" he asked. 

Levi clicked his tongue, "Now don't be too full of yourself, Blondie. Storage is on this floor," he said. 

That was not a lie. 

"I was checking up on pieces for an upcoming photoshoot there."

 _That_ was one thousand percent a lie.

He continued, voice deadpan, "Next time I'll make sure to have you be the one coming to my office since me moving seems to get your mind all worked up in knots."

Smith chuckled, "And it would be a pleasure, Boss."

Levi narrowed his eyes, "Anyway, I don't have time to lose. Let's get down to it."

And as if a switch has been flipped, all expression disappeared from Smith's face to make way for seriousness. 

"Very well," he nodded. "Could you tell me a bit about what this project of yours is about?"

"We want to create a brand of clothes attached to Survey. Bring in young designers twice a year, have them work around a theme or a design, sell the pieces on the internet under the brand at various ranges of price. Profit goes mostly to the designers themselves and a non profit fund for young people in the fashion industry that need help getting started. The garments will also be featured in the magazine in an appointed feature." 

Erwin raised his head from where he had started taking notes and nodded, "And you are the one helming this project?" 

Levi nodded. Indeed. He was. 

This was his baby, born from an idea he had nurtured for almost as long as _Survey_ had existed. He had decided along with the Board of Executives that he would be the one to bring the brand to life before the Brand Managers and Marketers would take over. 

It was all very new to Levi. He knew how to write about new trends, he knew how to present a vision for an issue cover, he knew how to direct his team of editors so that articles could be ready for publication at a given time.

But he had never been interested in the corporate, procedural aspect of projects. Hange had always been the shoulder he’d lean on for that, and they did it way better than him, so he’d never meddled.

This one project, though, was so dear to him, that it did not feel right, giving every aspect up to others. The board had proposed that to him actually. Focus solely on the creative aspect, we'll form a team to take care of the rest. But it felt wrong to Levi, who wanted to _at least_ know more about every piece that would complete the puzzle by the time this was over.

Others had had to reign him in multiple times in regards to the sheer time he had dedicated to it, oftentimes for his own well-being ("Did you even leave the office last night, Levi?" Hange would tut at him) as he still refused to let it affect his other tasks and responsibilities.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Smith clapped his hands together and said, "Very well. So let's go over the general principles and then we'll concentrate on what information I will need so that you will be sure to be able to have your brand ready in time."

Smith spent the best of the next hour telling him about the legal requirements related to new brands and asking Levi a few questions along the way to adapt his speech to Levi's needs. 

Now was it boring? Gosh, extremely so.

But Smith was so animated, so patient, the gentle tone of his voice never faltering when Levi asked him to go over that one point again (and again because seriously why the fuck were some things protected by copyright law while others need a fashion design patent), that the man felt like he could listen to him go on for a few more hours about this shit. 

Hell, Levi had to admit that the guy could probably switch to going into detail about the migratory behaviour of Shiganshina hummingbirds and he would still gladly hang on to his every word. 

In fact, he was so into Smith's words he _almost_ did not let himself get distracted by the wish to tuck the one strand of hair that had escaped his otherwise perfect coif back where it belonged. 

They were almost done when Smith suddenly cut a sentence of his off right in the middle as his gaze focused somewhere behind Levi.

Levi turned curiously and saw a face behind the glass part of the door to Smith's office. 

He snorted as the giant behind the door did a double take when he realised just who was in the chair before Smith's desk.

Levi glanced turned back to Smith when the man spoke up, "Ah, must be lunchtime already."

"So you and Nose know each other," Levi remarked, glancing back and forth between each of them as Smith raised his hand up to signal a "Five" with his hand, Zacharias nodding before his body less head (fucker had actually had to lower himself to reach the glass portion of the door it looked like, where Armin had been at just the right height for half of his face to reach it and Levi… Well Levi would probably fucking need a step stool to even be able to peek into the office) retreated from the door.

"Mike and I are long term friends," Smith smiled.

"Nice. Bonded through terrible sense of fashion or something?"

"Our mutual hobbies are mostly what did it but I guess that could have unconsciously played a part," Smith replied amiably.

"Anyway, I will not hold you back any longer. I noted down what you will need at the different steps of advancement. Thank you for your time," Levi started to rise from his chair, "Shadis gave us a rough draft of a schedule and a budget a few months back when we started out without going into detail, so we could quickly establish deadlines. Think you can take a look at it and tell me if it all looks okay to you?" 

"Sure," Smith nodded. 

"Great. Come by my office next week on Friday, at 3," Levi said as he adjusted his cape before turning towards the door.

"You can just send it to me via e-mail Levi, I would not want to take too much of your time."

Levi blinked. 

Well. Yes. He could. But. 

He turned back towards Smith, "I'd rather you come by, it will be easier for me if we discuss it and make any necessary change at once."

Yes. That was good. That was a valid reason.

And yet there was no missing that fucking sparkle in Smith's smug face again, though it disappeared as quickly as it had made its presence known, a smile instead coming to turn the corner of Smith's lips up.

"Very well Levi. Friday at 3. I know where your office is so that will be easy enough," he said, "Not that I have any doubt in your _cape_ -abilities to navigate through the c- "

"Don't you dare finish that fucking sentence," Levi interrupted through gritted teeth, not even sure if he was more offended by the lame pun or the jab at the fact that he hadn’t found the office by himself earlier. Smith was really pushing his luck, wasn’t he? 

Smith laughed briefly, "I apologize. The temptation was too strong."

Levi shook his head in disbelief, "Glad you are proud of having dad jokes to go with your dad clothes," he said, pointing at the sleeveless fucking bodywarmer Smith was wearing over his (plain, thank god) dress shirt, "I'll be off now, before you find any other way to offend me." 

Smith got up from his chair, "Well, I am off as well. I can hear Mike's stomach growling from here. You never eat in the cafeteria do you? I don't think I have ever seen you there."

The cafeteria, huh? 

"Aren’t you updated on the latest gossip? I only feed on the souls of the innocent while the rest of the city is asleep," Levi replied sarcastically as he retreated towards the door to the office. 

He was greeted by the sight of Zacharias in the hallway once he opened the door, the giant greeting him with a "Hey, boss," as Levi emerged from the office, Smith not too far behind. 

Levi nodded at him in acknowledgement, "I better see that article about floral perfumes for autumn in my inbox by tomorrow evening, Zacharias," he said before he made his way down the hallway, but not before allowing himself one last glance at Smith, who finger saluted (ugh) at him in response.

  
  


Levi _did_ eat in the cafeteria sometimes. 

Rarely enough that Hange and Petra looked at each other in confusion when he told them to wait up for him after their meeting the next day. 

Rarely enough that when they reached the place and Levi opened the door, he was faced with hundreds of employees gawking at him (again, never getting used to it). 

Levi sighed and glared at no one in particular, "You are all allowed to go back to your meal."

His tone was apparently enough for everyone to advert their gazes. At that very precise instant he almost wished they had taken the option for executives to have a separate cafeteria. That would have saved him the trouble of being faced with this the very few times he did go down and eat there. But it had been an unanimous decision at the time _Survey_ had settled into this building. Neither Levi nor the close people he had built the company were on board with settling with such a separation of the employees. 

If it meant being stared at then, in the end, it would still _always_ be better than having to sit down with pompous old men in boring suits as they went on and on with complaints on useless matters that concerned no one outside of their caste. Levi already did enough meddling with these people (against his best wishes) on formal events and meetings with shareholders.

He followed Hange and Petra once they were all done retrieving their food to the very far corner of the cafeteria where Isabel was waving at them, her gestures even bigger when she noticed Levi with them.

Once they reached the table, Hange immediately slid into the empty seat next to the two people facing away from them and who he soon realised were Eld and Moblit, their IT director. 

This left the seat next to Hange, facing away from the room, as well as the one directly across it, next to Isabel, who was herself sitting with Farlan on her side and Oluo, one of the Marketing Coordinators, next to him.

Levi discreetly sped up to overpass Petra and sit next to Isabel, although he was pretty sure his attempt at stealth was in vain as Petra raised one eyebrow at him as he settled down. 

She kept her suspicious gaze on him for some time, even as he started eating, but quickly ended up dropping it once she was roped into a conversation by Eld about their respective plans for the weekend. 

Levi took the opportunity to let his eyes sweep across the room. Soon enough he found the head of blond hair and let his eyes linger on the man for a few seconds. Smith had forgone his usual ridiculous attire, instead going for a simple back button-down that did wonders for his upper body.

Not that Levi was particularly interested in the man’s upper body, of course. But he was an aesthete, it was part of the job. He was paid to recognize beauty. 

And maybe beauty, to him, included the way that black shirt slightly strained over Smith's shoulders. And the aquiline line of his nose. And the way those horrible khaki pants had the merit to hug his shapely a--

“Levi?” Petra asked, waving one of her hands in front of Levi’s face. He saw her eyes narrow once more.

“You’re being weird,” she accused. 

“Oh, am I now?” Levi deadpanned between two mouthfuls of food. 

“Yes you are,” she raised her index finger, “First, the whole coming with us to the cafeteria thing,” she said, Hange nodding as if to add to the point Petra was making.

“Are you going to act like this is the first time I come down here?”

Petra ignored him and raised a second finger, “Second, the spacing out. You’re in a weirdly giddy mood. So, tell us,” a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, “Who sucked your dick?”

Levi rolled his eyes at the ridiculous conclusion Petra seemed to have gotten out of absolutely nowhere.

Hange erupted into ridiculous sounds that were halfway between giggles and guffaws and nudged her with their elbow, "Actually Petra, you might find that it’s more along the lines of whose dick is he _trying_ to suck." 

Levi reached over to kick them under the table but it was to no avail, Hange barely reacting.

Petra gasped.

"Who?" she asked excitedly, as if she was about to receive the news of the century. 

To his greatest despair, he saw Farlan, Isabel and Oluo perk up from the corner of his eye, Moblit and Eld his only solace as the first one was staring at him with an apologetic expression or and the latter just straight out ignoring what was going on and focusing on his broccoli (as everyone else should, if you asked Levi).

"You know the new guy? Erwin Smith?"

Petra gasped _again._

Oluo huffed, "I swear everyone's after that dude."

One glare from Levi was enough to shut him up, but Petra picked up again, "He's right actually. You better get on track fast if what Hange is saying is true, because I swear at least half of the people that are attracted to men in this facility are completely enamored with him."

"Well, not me," she added quickly as a clarification, "That one paisley shirt broke the magic," she shuddered.

Everyone ignored Oluo's uttered "That shirt kinda brings out the color of his eyes though" as Petra continued, "I swear even Gertrud from Accounting is in on it."

"Gertrud?" Oluo frowned, "Isn't she like, on her way to her sixties?"

Petra immediately glared at him and Isabel clicked her tongue, "Oi, you got a problem with ladies of a more advanced age?"

"That's not what I- I just-," he sighed and raised his hands in defeat, "I give up," he said and just went back to picking at his food.

"Have you ever tasted her baking?" Hange asked, their eyes sparkling. "I'm pretty sure she could seduce anyone with just a sheet of those macadamia nut cookies, and she cooked like three batches of them for Erwin so far. _Three_!" they exclaimed, "He's been here for _two_ weeks!"

Petra nodded gravely, "Exactly," she leaned towards Levi, "You better step up your game because at this point, Levi…” she sighed dramatically, “Is there anything you can even do that she can't?" 

Levi tilted his head and shrugged, "I don't know, Petra,” he mirrored her, leaning towards her over the table, "Can Gertrud from Accounting deep throat?" 

He leaned back in his seat as deaf silence fell over the whole table, everything stopping at once but the red that was rapidly filling Petra's face while Eld's slowly blanched. Farlan had paused with his cheeks puffed up with a mouthful of water and Oluo's mouth was still open from where he had been leading a piece of broccoli into his mouth. 

Suddenly, Oluo bit his tongue and his fork dropped back onto his plate with a soft _'clang'_ in the process.

And that is when chaos erupted around Levi, as he calmly took a sip of his water. 

It started with Hange breaking out into ridiculous, loud cackles that drew stares from the tables nearby before they grabbed a still shell shocked Petra by the shoulders and started shaking her while exclaiming, "I told you he wants that Legal Affairs dick!" Moblit tried to calm them down, glancing nervously between Levi and Hange, his expression making him look like he was somewhere on the spectrum between mortification and constipation. 

Isabel cried out indignantly, "What the actual _fuck_ , Levi!" as she patted the back a heavily coughing and sputtering Farlan, who had probably swallowed his water the wrong way in an effort to quickly get rid of it without spraying it everywhere on the table.

Meanwhile Eld's face had probably reached the whitest shade known to humanity, the poor man sitting still and looking everywhere but at Levi.

Levi wordlessly pushed his chair back among the general hilarity and stood up, adjusting the collar of his white turtleneck before picking up his tray to dispose of it, ignoring Hange’s barely intelligible exclamation of “Wait, Levi!” (the idiot was still guffawing away) as he went away. 

It was only when he passed by Smith’s table and their eyes briefly met that he realised just what he had said, thus _immediately_ averting his gaze as he felt heat traitorously crawl up his face.

  
  
  


The next week, when Hange arrived late to a meeting between themself, Levi and Petra with a tupperware container full of cookies in their hands and a wild glint in their eyes, Levi knew there would be bad news. 

His suspicions were confirmed when Hange dropped the container on Levi’s desk and announced in between giggles that, “I crossed Gertrud on the way and she insisted I bring you some of the cookies she baked yesterday.”

Levi rubbed at his temples as Petra buried her hands in her face, moaning about how she could never enjoy sweet, gentle Gertrud’s baking prowess _ever_ again because of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tag yourself i'm levi's poor excuse to see erwin again (or gertrud i haven't decided yet)
> 
> as always, kudos and comments are appreciated if you made it until here <3333  
> see you next time :)
> 
> [ writing aid pinterest ](https://www.pinterest.fr/almasies/survey-mode-au-inspo/) if you want some imagery || [ twitter acc ](http://twitter.com/ackerbnd) if you want to scream with (or at) me (beware of spoilers as I keep up with the manga)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! thank you for your kudos and comments on the last chapter <333

"Umm… You are probably mistaken," the young man scratched at his head, "Levi has a strict policy for appointments. Never on Friday afternoons," he smiled tightly.

Erwin frowned, "I do not know what to tell you, Eren. I assure you he is the one who told me to come by on Friday, by 3."

Eren sighed, "Fine, I'll go ask. But I'm pretty sure I know what the answer will be, so I suggest you do not hold your breath."

Erwin stayed in the hallway as Eren disappeared into the office.

A few seconds later, the young man re-emerged and faced Erwin with a sheepish look on his face, fingers scratching at the back of his scalp and messing up his shoulder length hair.

"Uh, Levi is waiting for you. I'm so sorry, it's just that he doesn't usually…"

Erwin smiled at him, "It's okay, Eren."

He entered the room as Eren stepped aside to let him in, then knocked on the second door, entering the office when he heard Levi call out for him to come in.

The man was sitting at his desk, nursing a cup of tea.

"Hey, Blondie," he said.

Erwin raised an eyebrow. That was probably the first time Levi had actually greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Levi," he answered.

Levi gestured with his chin towards an open door left of his desk.

"Let's settle there," he said as he started gathering some of his stuff, "Just go and sit down, I'll be right behind you."

Erwin did as he was bid, going into the room adjoining Levi's office that he hadn’t even noticed was there the first time he had come here. It was minimally furnished, the four seat table at the center the only element worth noting, from what Erwin could see.

"So these are the advantages of being CEO? Getting your own meeting room?" he called out as he looked around the room.

"And you haven't even seen my private bathroom," he heard Levi answer as the man came through the open door, laptop under one arm and cup of tea still steaming in the other hand.

Erwin felt his mouth dry out as he took in Levi’s complete form. His upper body was covered by a simple white button-up shirt that was slightly oversized on him, collar wide enough to reveal sharp collarbones and sleeves large, in a way that even Erwin’s non fashion educated brain could guess was completely intentional.

What Erwin’s non fashion educated brain could _not_ manage to comprehend was the bottom half of Levi’s outfit. The white shirt was tucked into white pants, which were themselves tucked into black boots that went up to his knees.

The space between the white shirt and the black boots was precisely what was sending Erwin's mind into a frenzy, black leather straps criss-crossing across the man's thighs tightly enough to make the moisture evaporate from Erwin's mouth.

He cleared his throat and willed the tickle that had started building up somewhere in his lower belly to disappear, not letting anything seep through his carefully impassive face.

If Levi had noticed anything strange, he did not make it known, quietly sitting down and setting his stuff on the table across from Erwin.

He connected his laptop to the projector above them, the draft of the schedule Shadis had worked on for the project filling the appointed space on the wall.

"Let's get this over with," Levi said.

The draft was thankfully detailed and accurate enough, as had been all of the notes Shadis had left for Erwin when he had taken over the job.

They went over the schedule quickly enough, Erwin adjusting some of the dates when he deemed it necessary. Levi would comment occasionally, between small sips of his tea, eyebrows creasing and head tilting to the side when he did not understand why Erwin wanted to move this or that deadline. He was not of much resistance, though, his features easing as long as Erwin's explanations seemed logical to him.

In the end, he did not have much reservations as long as the biggest deadlines and the launch date were not perturbed.

He had made that much clear to Erwin.

Everything had to be done for _Survey_ 's 10th anniversary, in March.

So Erwin's team were to finish their part of the job in mid January at the latest, so the designs could be finalized and the manufacturing of the first batches could be launched by the end of January.

That was not negotiable.

Erwin looked at the schedule once more. October 20th. As long as he received the elements he needed by the end of the month, it would be perfectly feasible.

Once they were done going through the whole schedule, Levi nodded satisfyingly.

"Shadis had predicted everything accurately then, it seemed. I'm happy about it," he said, face straight, and if that was a happy Levi, then Erwin wondered what an aggravated Levi would look like.

"Thank you, Smith. We will proceed as planned as the changes compared to the Shadis’ initial schedule are minimal. Oluo Bozado from the Marketing Team will contact you next week so your team can get started on the registration of the brand and the logos. I will set meetings with you both to keep updated on the advancement, I'll let you handle the rest as long as shit gets done properly and in time," he said with a pointed stare.

Erwin nodded, "It will be."

"First meeting Wednesday at 10, two weeks from now, that okay for you?" Levi asked in a careless tone that Erwin was pretty sure implied that he did not actually care whether the time and date was actually convenient for Erwin.

"Wednesdays at 10 are when I have my weekly meetings with Marlo, from my team," Erwin answered.

A thin, black eyebrow raised itself on Levi's forehead.

"But I have no doubt that he will not mind us moving it at 11," he added. He slightly leaned over the table and got closer to Levi, "You made exceptions for me after all, so it's only natural that I accommodate you in return."

"Exceptions?"

"A little birdie told me you had a strict no-Friday-afternoon-appointment rule," Erwin said, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Levi narrowed his eyes, "Well, the little birdie should be doing a better job of knowing my schedule considering that is why he is paid for."

Erwin _could_ have believed him, if it weren't for the pink tint that had taken over the tip of the man’s ears, contrasting with the hard set of his face. Cute.

He leaned back in his seat, watching as Levi gathered his belongings and stood up from his chair and. Fuck. He had forgotten about the torturous leather straps.

The view of Levi walking away from him and back to his office was as enchanting as the one he had gotten of the front of his outfit.

Erwin once again felt his mouth get drier as he saw the way the two leather straps that snaked their way up Levi’s legs dug into the flesh of his ass, crossing over one another to meet the belt where they were attached.

He averted his gaze quickly, getting up from his own chair and following Levi back into the office.

He both mourned and rejoiced in the loss of the sight of Levi's legs as he sat behind his desk (as lovely as it was, he was probably going to end up embarrassing himself).

"Any questions?" Levi questioned, not sparing Erwin a glance as he set his laptop and cup of tea back at their rightful place on his desk.

 _'Is the space between the two straps that encircle your left thigh up for rent?_ ', Erwin's mind said.

"No, I have everything," Erwin said.

"Perfect, Oluo will get back to you next week." 

And get back he did. By mid-week, Erwin had indeed received an email from the man himself.

As he opened one of the attached files and found himself staring at a minimalist design of two identical, entwined wings, one of them white, the other black.

Most of the other attached files were variations of that logo in different sets of colours.

The very last file opened up to a text written in a simple, old style Serif font, the letters close together.

 _Freiheit_.

So this was the name of the future brand.

Erwin’s mind itched with the wish to ask Levi more about the meaning of it all, but just looking at the ensemble, imagining the text and the image put together, made him see _Levi_. He could not explain it.

Maybe it was the simplicity, the effortless elegance, that reminded him of the man.

He snapped out of his musings, immediately forwarding the email to Armin and asking him to get all the documentation ready so that they could proceed to the registration.

Levi had been clear after all, shit had to be done properly and in time.

For the next two weeks, Erwin barely saw Levi, bar for the very few times the man went down to the cafeteria for lunch. Nanaba had actually commented on it, frowning and saying that she’d seen him more in the last weeks than she had in a few years.

Erwin had shrugged it off. It did not feel right, putting attention on Levi when he already seemed uncomfortable about all the gazes that would turn to him with every movement of his.

The Wednesday morning of his meeting with Levi _might_ have found Erwin paying extra attention to the way he gelled his hair.

That morning _might_ have _also_ found him swapping his usual khakis (even though he really did not understand just what was wrong with them) out for the Special Occasion charcoal slacks he’d had adjusted to perfectly fit him at the time he had bought them, pairing them with a simple white button up shirt.

He arrived ten minutes early to the meeting room, checking up on his emails as the minutes passed by. He raised his head as the door opened at 9:59. He stood up to greet Levi (definitely not to show off his Special Occasion pants), but soon found out that the man who had opened the door was a cravat-wearing, slightly-side-parted-hair and undercut sporting… Not-Levi.

The man was at least a good 10 cm too tall, his hair brown and slightly curling at the ends and his features looking nothing like Levi’s.

Erwin smiled at him regardless.

“You must be Oluo. It’s nice to meet you,” he extended his hand, “Erwin Smith, Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs Manager.”

The other man looked at the hand extended in front of him with a haughty look, only shaking it after a few seconds, “Oluo Bozado, Marketing Coordinator,” he introduced himself, “Personally appointed by Levi to handle the Marketing part of this project,” he added pointedly after a slight pause.

Erwin did not let his smile falter despite the man’s frankly strange behaviour and obviously, Levi-inspired attitude and haircut, dare he say — although the result made for more of a caricature than a homage.

He sat back down in his chair, watching as Oluo headed for the video conference equipment of the room and turned it on, a blue-green screen with the word “ _Paths_ ” appearing on the screen as the software was launched.

“Is Levi… not joining us physically?” Erwin asked.

Oluo hummed questioningly before he shifted his attention from the screen to Erwin, “Oh, no, he had to go on an emergency trip to Shiganshina and won’t be able to come back to Trost before tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Erwin nodded, “Okay,” he replied, not letting any trace of the disappointment he could not deny feeling seep through his expression.

“We’ll wait for him to call us. He might be a bit late,” Oluo said as he headed for the seat facing Erwin.

Erwin hummed in understanding, choosing to go back to answering some emails in the meantime.

The silence was interrupted by Oluo blurting out, “He’s very busy, you know.”

“Oh, I completely understand,” Erwin said, not raising his eyes from his screen, “I really don’t mind waiting a few minutes for him to arrive.”

“ _Very_ busy,” Oluo stressed.

Erwin paused in his typing, raising his gaze to Oluo’s. The man had crossed his arms and was staring at him with comically narrowed eyes.

“So don’t expect him to have time to show you any… _Special_ skills of his,” he added cryptically.

Erwin felt his eyebrows meet in a confused frown at the words, his eyes slowly travelling left and right as he tried to figure out just what Oluo was referring to.

The bizarre exchange was thankfully interrupted by the telltale _Paths_ notification sound that signaled an incoming video call, Levi’s face appearing on the screen.

“Hey Captain,” Oluo greeted enthusiastically, as if the latest minutes had not even happened.

“Hello to the both of you,” Levi drawled, “Sorry I couldn’t be here physically.”

"Hello, Levi," Erwin greeted. He could see that the man was in what looked like a hotel room, the window beside him indicating that it was already night out where he was.

"Let’s get started then. Oluo, you first. How is it going on your side?”

They spent the next hour talking about their respective advancement, Levi taking notes and mostly chiming in when he had questions about given points.

At the end of the hour, after they’d established new goals for the upcoming weeks, he spoke up, "Very well, I am satisfied so far. I'll see you two again in two weeks, same day, same time. Any objections?"

Before any of them could answer, he stated, "Good. Have a nice day!" before ending the call a few seconds later, leaving Erwin and Oluo to blink at the screen.

By Friday evening of that week, Erwin had rarely been happier to finally enter the weekend.

He sighed as he finally closed his office door and looked at the time on his phone screen.

8.17 pm.

He was probably the last one left in the whole building.

The articles for the December issue that needed validation had started flooding his email inbox at the beginning of the week, _and_ his schedule, by the same occasion. It was partly his fault, he knew. He was the one who had insisted on giving a good amount of articles a re-read for the first months, to get familiar with all the topics in the magazine.

He stretched his neck from side to side as he walked towards the elevator.

He could already see himself in his usual, comfortable seat at _Martha's_ , the small bistro near his apartment. His stomach had already started rumbling as he envisioned the delicious rib eye steak he would have no qualms about devouring, thoughts about the homemade sauce and potato mash that would accompany the meat only fueling his hunger.

He watched the red blinking numbers change until the number "13" appeared.

The doors of the elevator fully opened and revealed a familiar man inside, slumped against one of the walls.

Erwin and Levi stared wide-eyed at each other, until the silence was broken by Erwin's stomach emitting a particularly loud rumble.

Levi snorted and pressed the button to keep the elevator doors open, only removing his finger from it when Erwin stepped inside and pressed the "-1" button that would lead him to the underground company parking lot, his other hand slightly massaging his belly as if to calm down a rogue beast.

"You got an army in there or something?", Levi drawled, tiredness seeping through his words.

Erwin shrugged, "It was a long day," he turned towards the other man, "You too?"

Levi just hummed.

It was surprising to Erwin, seeing the other man like this, posture slumped, hair falling before his eyes. He could not pretend to know him that well, but, thus far, he had seen him carry himself with nothing less than a consistent, icy and unmoving mask (bar for the few times he had provoked a few cracks in it, he thought to himself, mind going back to the blush that had tinted Levi’s ears pink a few weeks ago).

The blond man watched the numbers change as the elevator went down the numerous floors of the building.

9.

Should he… maybe… ?

 _Could_ he?

8.

He took a deep breath.

7.

"I know a nice cozy place to have a meal and unwind. If you want." he blurted out before he could mentally talk himself out of it.

Levi looked at him from below inky black hair.

6\. 

Levi snorted, “On a Friday night? In Trost? In a packed overpriced restaurant among loud students and workers?” he turned his gaze away from Erwin’s, “No thank you.”

5.

“It’s a bistro down south actually, on the outskirts of the city. No students, I’m probably their youngest regular,” Erwin argued.

4.

Levi stared at Erwin appraisingly, not answering.

3.

“I swear no one will recognize you there.” Erwin said, Levi’s eyes flashing in response. Bingo.

“It’s the place where I get inspiration for my fashion sense actually,” he added, a smile pulling the corners of his lips up.

2.

Levi huffed as Erwin’s eyebrows raised as if to say, _“Well?”_

"Oh,” Erwin exclaimed, raising his index finger, “And Martha makes her own tea blends.”

1.

The doors opened, giving Levi and Erwin a view of the empty lobby.

Erwin waited for Levi to step out.

At least he had tried.

To his surprise, though, the man sighed and turned to him fully, “You have a car, right? I don’t do filthy metro lines.”

Erwin’s eyes widened, “Yes,” he nodded, “Of course.”

The doors of the elevator closed again.

Erwin let himself smile, looking Levi in the eye, “You will not regret it.”

He stepped out first once the elevator reached the parking lot, trusting Levi to follow him as he headed towards the only car that was still occupying a spot, the sound of their footsteps resonating in the otherwise empty space.

Once they were both settled, Erwin started up the car, leading it out of the parking lot and into the city. Furtive glances to his right told him that Levi was fully concentrated on the view outside the car window.

Erwin got it. One of the things he loved the most about working in the center of Trost was getting to make the most out of the beautiful city. Navigating through the town reminded him of coming here with his Father as a child while on vacation, the man pointing out various monuments, statues and old beautiful buildings, telling him of the wars and periods that had shaped the city, ever eager to share his knowledge, as a History teacher.

Levi’s gaze did not budge, his body actually leaning forward in the passenger seat — to get a better view, Erwin guessed — once they had crossed through the center of Trost and into the neighbouring, much more modest area, where the buildings were as old as those from the center but their age was more obvious, the cracks in the exteriors and the greying paint of their facade testifying of the many years during which they had been left untended to. 

They reached the periphery of Trost quickly enough, where the roads were larger and the streets much quieter than those of the bustling city.

Erwin fortunately found a parking spot in the street near their destination, uttering “Here we are.” as he pulled the handbrake.

Levi wordlessly got out of the car, adjusting his large black scarf around his neck to protect himself from the crisp November evening air and waiting for Erwin to join him on the sidewalk and lead the way.  
  


They walked side by side in comfortable silence, quickly reaching the restaurant Erwin was well acquainted with. He knew it did not look like much from the outside, the simple red facade nothing like the modernly decorated restaurants within Trost, but it had the advantage of being an extremely cozy place with abundant and excellent (unmatched, in Erwin's humble opinion) food.

As soon as they entered, they were greeted by a small, rosy-cheeked, grey haired woman who immediately went up to Erwin and kissed him on both cheeks, the tall man bending down so she could reach him more easily.

“Erwin! How are you?" She left him no time to answer, bombarding him with questions, "Is that new boss of yours too tough on you? Are they keeping you overtime? Is that why you haven’t come here in so long?”

Erwin laughed, “It has been two weeks, Martha. I'm doing just fine.”

The woman did not seem convinced, but nonetheless switched her attention to Levi, “And who is that?”

He turned towards Levi, “Martha, this is… one of my colleagues from work. He needed to unwind, so I thought of bringing him with me tonight.”

Levi nodded at her, “It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

“Please call me Martha,” she smiled, eyes creasing at the corners, “Well, I’ll let you gentlemen get settled. Will you be needing a menu?”

“Just one for my companion, please,” Erwin smiled at her before leading Levi towards the very back of the rather small dining room. As Erwin had predicted, no one from the few occupied tables paid Levi any attention, couples engrossed in hushed conversations and lone people making the most out of the calm atmosphere as they enjoyed their hearty meal.

“Choose your seat,” he told him as he stopped in front of his usual four seat table, gesturing at the quilted bench seat and the rattan bistro chairs in front of it.

Levi went for the chair beside the wall, Erwin settling into the bench that he was very sure had memorized the shape of his body by now.

He watched as the man looked around them, gaze going from the red and white checkered cloth to the myriad of mismatched paintings and photographs that were hung on the yellow walls.

“It’s very authentic looking, isn’t it?” Erwin asked.

“I guess so,” Levi shrugged, “It’s the first time I eat at a bistro, though, so I wouldn’t know for sure.”

“How come you haven’t done it before, after so many years in Trost?” Erwin asked genuinely.

“Do you always ask so many questions, Smith?”

Erwin winced, “I’m afraid I do.”

Levi clicked his tongue, “Nosy fucker.”

He leaned his head on one of his hands and shrugged, answering Erwin’s question anyway.

“Didn’t have the money. Then, I didn’t have the time. And nowadays, well, I don’t really have the occasion. Most of the old fucks I eat lunch and dinner with would scoff at the mere idea of eating somewhere that is not a gastronomic restaurant.”

Erwin hummed in understanding, “Well, for what it is worth, I am glad to be your first,” he leaned towards Levi with a smile, “Bistro partner, that is.”

Levi leered at him, “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

Erwin chuckled, “Again, I’m afraid I do.”

Their conversation was cut short by Martha coming to their table and setting down a menu in front of Levi.

They lapsed into comfortable silence as Levi went through the different pages. Erwin saw the other man’s eyes go back and forth between different starters, seemingly hesitating between the various choices.

“I would go for the onion soup, if I were you.”

“I’ll bite,” Levi said, snapping the menu shut, “I’ll blame you if I don’t enjoy it. Just so you know.”

Martha came back once she saw that they were ready to order, Erwin telling her that he’d be going for his usual — the chicory and ham salad as a starter, and the rib-eye steak that had been the object of his daydreams all through the afternoon as the main course. Levi settled for the onion soup Erwin had so readily recommended, choosing the chicken fillet with mushroom cream sauce and seasonal vegetables for his main course.

Surprisingly, once Martha left the table, it was Levi who started the conversation again, head tilted to the side, still leaned on his hand, “So, that boss of yours? Is he too tough on you or what?”

Erwin shrugged, not hesitating to play into Levi’s game one second, “I actually don’t think he’s as tough as people make him out to be,” he caught the other man’s steely gaze and held it there, “I understand why he needs to come off as just that, though. So I don't mind.”

“But enough about work,” the blond man decided to change to subject of the conversation after a pause, not wanting to let the atmosphere get too heavy.

He poured Levi and himself a glass of water, “Did you know that bistros were originally created by Karanese workers who moved to Trost back when the industrial revolution took place?”

“Hey, Smith?”

“Hmm?”

“How old are you?”

Erwin blinked in confusion, “I turned 39 a few days ago. Why?”

Levi shook his head, “You are not. You are 65. At the very least. That is the only explanation I have.”

They launched into banter that had Erwin trying to defend his “old man pants” (“ _khakis are really comfortable, maybe you should give them a try, launch a trend”_ ) and continued as they ate their starters, Erwin beaming with pride as he saw Levi’s face after he had taken the first mouthful out of his onion soup (“ _stop acting like you are the one who cooked it, asshat”_ ).

Their ribbing came to a comfortable stop as they enjoyed their respective main courses, the exhaustion of the week catching up to the both of them.

Erwin reveled in the peculiar atmosphere. He enjoyed coming here alone in a way that was oh so different, but right at this moment, he felt like nothing could compare with the comfortable feeling that came with sharing an evening meal in such a cozy environment and warmed his insides.

Martha came back a few minutes after they were done, both of their plates empty and their stomachs full.

She set her hand on Erwin’s shoulder, “I have a few slices of apple tart left, you got any room left?”

Erwin smiled, “You know I always have room left for your apple tart.”

She turned toward Levi, “Would you like to take a look at our dessert menu?”

Levi shook his head, eyelids drooping slightly, “I’m fine, thank you.”

Erwin straightened his relaxed body as he remembered something.

“Martha,” he addressed the woman before she could leave with their tableware, “You are still into tea making, are you not? Levi here is a tea amateur.”

The woman turned to Levi to confirm Erwin's statement, and that was enough for the two of them to get into an in depth conversation about tea brewing techniques and loose leaves she got from a Stohessian supplier and whatnot.

Erwin almost regretted introducing the subject.

 _Almost_. Because the sparkle that had made its way into Levi’s eyes made the prolonged wait for his apple tart slice worth it, he thought.

As Martha left with the promise to bring back with a slice of pie for Erwin and a teapot of passionfruit and rose petal black tea for Levi, the black haired man turned his gaze to his companion.

“How do you know I like tea?”

“Eren came to our floor’s break room to rant to Armin about your tea-related expectations a few days ago.”

Levi sighed, “The kid just sucks ass at making tea. Thank fuck he has other skills.”

“Oh, while we are on the subject of skills,” Erwin said suddenly, “I’m sorry. I know this comes out of the blue but it had been bothering me since our meeting. Oluo talked about you having special skills?”

Levi frowned, “Special skills?”

“Yes, he said that you were very busy, and that, therefore, I should not expect you to show me any of your, and I quote, special skills. What was he referring to? Do you have another project coming up that I will be involved in? If that is the case then why is he so reluctant for you to show me what you can do? I think that is very necessary should you need my guidance to — Levi, are you alright?”

The man’s face had gotten progressively pinker as Erwin had gone on, his jaw muscles clenching.

Levi exhaled through his nose before speaking up through gritted teeth, “No. I have no idea what he was talking about. As I am sure you have noticed, Oluo is a very competent man in what he does. However, he tends to blabber non work related nonsense whenever the occasion comes up. I suggest you just ignore him, next time.”

Erwin frowned, deciding to just drop it. It seemed like he would never get to the bottom of this.

His confusion was quickly forgotten when the coveted slice of tart was placed in front of him, while Martha set a teapot and an empty cup on a saucer on the table before Levi.

They finished their meal in silence, each of them savouring the last part of it.

Once Martha came back to their table with the note, Levi surprised Erwin by being the one to speak up.

“That was quite possibly some of the best tea I have ever had.”

“Oh, I am so glad to hear that. I’m working on some new blends that should be ready by the end of next week. Feel free to come back by that time. It’d be on the house, since I’m using you as a test subject in return.”

For the first time, Erwin thought he saw the ghost of a smile on Levi’s face.

“I would love that,” the man said, looking up at the restaurant owner.

“We can come back next Friday. If you are free, that is,” Erwin proposed.

Levi nodded slightly, “I’ll check my schedule to be sure, but it should be fine.”

“Perfect,” Erwin grinned.

Before he could react, Levi had taken his wallet out and placed a sum next to the note that Erwin was sure covered the bill and then some.

“Thank you for the evening, Martha, everything was wonderful,” he said as he got up, shooting a glare at Erwin as he opened his mouth to comment on him paying for everything.

Erwin followed him, briefly hugging the woman once he had stood up and bidding her goodbye.

“Do you need me to drop you off somewhere, Levi?”

“I texted my driver on my phone while you were engrossed in your steak, Blondie,” he said monotonously as he wrapped his large scarf around his neck, “He is waiting for me outside already.”

They stepped out of the restaurant and into the night air together, Erwin getting his car keys out of his pocket in preparation.

“So, next Friday?”

Levi hummed.

“If you are indeed free, then you should come by my office at the end of the day, so we can head out together.”

Levi hummed again.

“Or should I be scared that you'll get lost on your way there again?”

Levi snorted.

“Fuck you, Erwin,” he said with no bite whatsoever in his voice.

Erwin grinned as he watched him walk the few meters to the car that was parked on the curb. He nodded at the other man as the latter glanced at him one more time with unmistakable mirth in his eyes before disappearing in the vehicle.

It was only when Erwin reached his own car that he realised that this was the first time he had heard Levi pronounce his first name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so can you guess which european city trost is heavily inspired by (i almost typed out the actual city name at least twice while writing this oopsss)
> 
> i actually had a question about the switching povs, they aren't too confusing, i hope? i try to make it clear whose pov the chapter is written through but well! if you have any remarks about this then i'd be curious to know!
> 
> as always, kudos and comments are very appreciated!
> 
> til next time <333
> 
> [ writing aid pinterest ](https://www.pinterest.fr/almasies/survey-mode-au-inspo/) if you want some imagery || [ twitter acc ](http://twitter.com/ackerbnd) if you want to scream with (or at) me (beware of spoilers as I keep up with the manga)


	5. Chapter 5

“You know,” Erwin said between two bites of his Floating Islands, "I might start believing that you are trying to steal Martha away from me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Levi dead-panned, making it a point to look Erwin right in the eye as he brought a spoonful of _free_ dark chocolate mousse to his mouth. "She is the one who insisted on bringing this to me."

She was – something about trying to figure out which dessert went well with herbal mint tea. 

Which made Erwin even more jealous. 

Of whom? 

Well.

Jealous of Levi because it took _him_ months of regular attendance before Martha started occasionally slipping some extra garnish here and free dessert there. 

But he was mostly jealous of Martha, to be truthful. Jealous that she got to interact with Levi without having to get through a whole layer of sarcasm and cynicism, jealous that she could make a spark appear in his eye with just the mention of Hizuru steeped tea. 

It was kind of ridiculous, he knew, but the truth was he wanted to see, to know, more of Levi. It wasn't that he wanted to break through his defenses, per se, he was not that selfish. He had no doubt they were there for a reason. But if Levi were to let him underneath, well, he certainly wouldn't complain. 

He reckoned that sitting there in front of the man as he sipped on his tea, in a small bistro with red and white checkered tablecloths and amazing wine, already gave him a more intimate view than most people would be allowed to appreciate of the man.

It had been his inquisitive nature that had spurred him on, at first. Levi was enough of a peculiar character that Erwin’s curiosity has been piqued. But he had quickly reached a point where it had become hard to deny the reason why beginnings of smiles tugged at the corners of his lips when Levi would take his teasing in strides and answer with jabs of his own, the reason why a pleasant feeling would fill his stomach when Levi would seek him out.

He had indeed been surprised when, the Friday after their first time here together, Levi had shown up at his office at 7pm sharp, opening the door without knocking and looking expectantly at Erwin. Erwin had immediately closed his laptop despite being in the middle of writing an email (he had been done with what he had planned for the day for at least an hour to be quite honest, and had been getting ahead on his work while he waited to see if Levi would actually show up), quickly gathered his things and followed him out of the door. Levi had not spoken up until they had reached the restaurant, where he had asked Erwin for recommendations once the menu had been brought to him. 

Just like the first evening, the meal had gone on in comfortable silence at times interrupted by bouts of conversation, and had ended in a promise that they would get together again next Friday.

And here they were. 

"Stop smiling to yourself, you freak," Levi's voice broke through his thoughts. 

Erwin looked up at Levi.

"And don't you dare pout," Levi continued, "That shit is not cute," he paused. "Especially with the way you’re dressed."

Erwin looked down at his micro floral print red and dark blue dress shirt in confusion.

“But…” he looked back up at Levi forlornly, “The last issue said florals are back in this year?”

Erwin watched as the other man buried his face in his hands in response.

He blinked.

Gosh, he had finally done it, hadn’t he? He had ended up offending Levi, over floral patterns of all things. 

But then, Levi’s shoulders started shaking. 

Erwin’s eyes progressively widened as Levi started emitting small, almost imperceptible, sounds of unmistakable laughter. 

He felt a grin grace his own face as Levi hiccuped his way out of his sudden laughing fit for the next minute, face still fully hidden behind his hands. 

By the time Levi had finally taken his hands off of his face, his features had gone back to their usual, quasi-expressionless look. 

If not for the slight flush on his cheeks, it would have been impossible to guess that the man had been laughing just a few seconds ago.

Erwin sighed, "Should I be offended that it was not the ineffable depths of my humor but instead my fashion sense that finally got you to laugh?"

Levi took a handkerchief out of his blazer's chest pocket and stabbed at the wet corners of his eyes, "I think the exhaustion is finally catching up to me, maybe fucking Four Eyes was right about going a bit easier on myself after all."

Erwin's eyes softened, "The project being hard on you?"

He expected Levi to roll his eyes and tell him to stop prying.

Instead, the man sighed, "We're choosing the final designs," he sighed, resting his chin on one of his hands, "So lots of arguing. Sometimes pointless." He shrugged, "It's part of the game though."

Erwin hummed in understanding, "So is Eren making it?" 

Levi instantly scowled at him, "What did the brat tell you?" 

"Nothing, I assure you," Erwin replied immediately, "You could say I just guessed. It comes with the, how would you say?" He tapped at his chin, "Ah, yes, the _nosy fucker_ quality."

Levi took another sip of his tea, "That you are." He set his cup back on the table and snorted, "Of course Eren made it. There was never any doubt he would."

Erwin nodded, "He didn't seem so sure of that, a few weeks ago."

"Well, I was. But I wasn't about to tell him that. Gotta get the best out of the kid," Levi replied, an amused glint in his eyes. 

Erwin watched as Levi emptied the last of the teapot into the cup, eyes drifting towards the dark chocolate mousse that was sitting there, half eaten. 

He obviously wasn't discreet enough, as Levi's hand appeared in his field of view, pushing the dessert towards him. Erwin didn’t question it, digging in with his spoon. 

Levi sighed. 

“Maybe I was wrong about you being an old man,” he drawled. “You are actually a giant child.”

Erwin shrugged as he savoured the texture of the mousse, “Nothing wrong with a bit of a Sweet Tooth, especially when the goods are this delicious.” His voice raised in volume with the end of his sentence as Martha passed him by, earning him an affectionate squeeze of his shoulder. 

When he turned back to Levi, he found that the bottom half of his face was obscured by his raised tea cup. However, that did not hide either the ghost of a smile that was lingering on his face nor the small spark (amusement? Erwin could not say for sure) that was dancing in his gaze. 

They left the cozy restaurant a few minutes later, huddling in their respective jackets against the late November cold.  
  
Levi cleared his throat. 

“I am going on a trip to Mitras, on Tuesday,” he said, puffs of air visible in the cold air as he exhaled, “Won’t be back for a few days, so. Next Friday won’t be a go for me, unfortunately.” He turned to look Erwin in the eye, “The Friday after that, though?” he asked cautiously, as if unsure of what Erwin's answer would be.

Erwin smiled, “Of course, Levi, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Levi nodded once. “Perfect,” he looked to the other side of the street where his driver was parked, patiently waiting for him. “I’ll get going. See you soon, Erwin.”

“See you soon, Levi,” Erwin returned warmly, “Have a nice trip.”

  
  


Erwin was not the most pretentious of men, but he was ready to admit he did fancy himself a smart one. 

But everyone had their shortcomings, even in their biggest strengths, that sometimes led to mistakes, right?

Erwin hadn’t even noticed he was making one at first, when, after receiving a short e-mail from Levi directed at both Oluo and himself reading ‘ _Emergency trip to Liberio. We’ll do tomorrow’s meeting via Paths. Won’t be back before next week. L_ ’, he shot a quick text to Mike and Nanaba in their group chat. 

_Martha’s on friday? it’s been a while._

This would be the second week in a row Levi was away and it had been a while since Mike, Nanaba and himself had been to _Martha’s_ together or even just gotten together outside of work. 

So, might as well, right? 

He didn’t notice his mistake when Mike and Nanaba piled up in his car after their day at the office on Friday. 

He didn’t notice his mistake when they entered the restaurant and they were all collectively scolded by Martha for not coming back together sooner. 

He did, however, finally notice it when Martha came by Erwin’s usual table during a lull in her service and asked, “No Levi today?”

Erwin looked at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly gaping open. 

Before he could say anything, Nanaba broke the silence.

“Levi?” she questioned.

Martha tilted her head in confusion, “Yes, Levi? He’s a coworker of Erwin’s. Don’t you guys work at the same place now? I thought you might know him.”

Nanaba shook her head, “Well, we do work at the same place but I’m afraid Mike and I do not know any _‘Levi’_ s there. Well, I mean,” she paused to laugh in a way that was too forced for Erwin’s liking, “Our Big Boss is called Levi, but he certainly couldn’t be the one we’re talking about,” she faced Erwin and smiled innocently at him, “Right?”

“Oh dear, I doubt it,” Martha answered, oblivious to the way Erwin was trying to back away from Mike who had leaned forward on his seat to sniff at the air around him, “Levi doesn’t look a day over 30.”

“Ah, then indeed, it cannot be our dear boss, the guy is nearing retirement age,” Nanaba answered, the sweet tone of her voice a complete contrast from the manic glint that was slowly taking over her eyes. “Employees wouldn’t dare to invite him out to dinner anyway. He’s so intimidating!” she mock-gasped, “And so tall! Even more than Mike, would you believe it?”

Martha’s eyes widened, “That boss of yours must be a sight,” she shook her head, “He’s definitely not the one Erwin brings here then, Levi is anything but tall. Right, Erwin?”

Erwin cleared his throat, “Right,” he answered her with a tight smile.

Nanaba snapped her fingers, “Oh, wait, there is a Levi in the Finance Department, right, Mike?” 

Mike blinked at her for a few seconds, face blank, before finally exclaiming, “Ah, yes! _That_ Levi, I completely forgot about him.”

Erwin frowned at their act.

“Oh, he’s in Finance?” Martha asked, oblivious still to what was going on, “Well that explains the constant black and white dress code,” she shook her head in dismay. “He should follow Erwin’s example and put more colours into his look.”

Mike nodded earnestly at her as if to agree as Nanaba hid an obvious laugh behind a shaky smile. 

“Right,” she said, “He should. Follow Erwin’s example.”

The bell atop the bistro’s door jingled right at that time, prompting Martha into saying, “Oh! Gotta get back to work. Well, tell Levi that I have new blends ready and waiting for their favourite test taster.”

“I will, Martha.”

Erwin watched her walk away from the table forlornly, leaving him alone with his two friends. He did not even have to look in their direction to feel the intense stare they had both fixed on him. 

Before the couple could say anything, he raised a finger. 

“Wait,” he said, before pouring himself a glass of wine and taking a good sip from it. 

Once he had set his glass back on the table, he faced them and fixed his posture, sitting straight and smiling at the both of them, as if to appear more confident. “Okay. Go on.”

“I suspected you were fucking someone, but _Levi_?” Mike asked hastily. 

Erwin frowned, “First of all, I am not having sex with Levi. Second of all, you suspected _what_?”

“That one Saturday we drove to the lake? Your car reeked of perfume, man.”

“ _I_ wear perfume,” Erwin rebutted. 

“You wear citrus-y, fresh perfumes,” Mike pointed out, “That day, I smelled woody, amber-y… ” his eyes lit up with realization, “ _Levi_ ’s perfume.” His face fell. “Please tell me you did not hook up with him in that car before I climbed in,” he grimaced. 

Erwin sighed, “Again, Mike, I am not having sex with Levi.”

“But you would like to,” Nanaba butted in, eyebrows raised expectantly. 

Erwin did not answer. 

Mike shook his head, “It’s not just physical, is it,” he stated more than he asked, “You never bring anyone other than us here.” 

Erwin shrugged in answer, “The reason I brought him here in the first place wasn’t even purely romantic. I think he needed it. It has to get cold at the top, and he’s not the infallible, heartless machine people make him out to be.”

“He isn’t,” Mike agreed.

“I won’t tell you there is nothing there, because it would be a lie. But, so far, I could not tell you where this is going, to be honest with you guys. He is excellent company regardless,” Erwin said.

“I just hope you realize what you’re getting into, Erwin.” Mike answered. “Levi is not a bad man but he has a lot of responsibilities, and he doesn’t exactly seem to be the most available person, emotionally speaking.”

“As I said, Mike. There’s no saying where this will go for now. But you guys both know me well,” he raised an eyebrow, “If it turns out to be worth it then not much will stop me from giving this a try.”

Nanaba snorted, “Yeah, we know you’re allergic to making your life easy. ”

Erwin smiled in answer, pouring the three of them glasses of wine, “I would not be me if I weren’t.”

“Just promise you won’t forget about us when you become Humanity’s Most Fashionable’s trophy husband,” Mike said.

Erwin could only laugh heartily at that.

  
  
  


Erwin did not know whether to expect seeing Levi the next Friday.

He had not seen him all week, did not even know if he was at the Trost headquarters these days. Their next meeting in relation to the project was next week, so there had been no way for him to be clued in on Levi’s whereabouts.

His questioning was answered when the man himself opened the door to his office at 6 pm sharp, greeting him with a “Hey, Blondie.”

Erwin smiled at him, “Hello, Levi. It’s been a while.”

“Don’t be dramatic, it’s been three weeks. Ready to go or what?” he asked, immediately turning back towards the door.

Erwin frowned. He was getting used to Levi’s brashness, but this was different. Nonetheless, he stood up from his chair, gathering his belongings before following Levi out of the office. 

It was only when they got in the elevator and Erwin got a good look at Levi under fluorescent lights that he felt a sense of déjà vu overcome him.

The dark circles (more prominent than usual), the slumped posture, the dark hair falling flat in front of an angled down face told him all he needed to know and brought him back to a mere month and a half ago, when he had dared asked Levi to accompany him for dinner for the first time. 

Only this time, it was Levi who spoke up first, looking up at him through his bangs with an unreadable expression in his tired eyes, “You mind if we go somewhere other than Martha’s, today?”

“Of course not, Levi,” Erwin answered softly. 

Levi nodded. 

As they had done the first times, they silently fell into step together in the otherwise empty parking lot. 

“Just take the same route as usual for now,” Levi said, “I’ll tell you when to change it up.”

Levi did not speak up while they crossed the town center and its lit up streets, adorned with various ornaments and lights in the event of the upcoming Winter Solstice.

It was only when they reached the more modest district (the one that caused Levi to lean forward in his seat every time to get a better view out of the passenger window, Erwin remembered) that Levi told him to take a right to get off of the main street. 

From there on, he directed him through narrow streets, where the magic of the Winter Solstice did not seem to penetrate, as only a few lighting garlands had been placed here and there in the otherwise almost dark streets. 

They reached a stop after a few minutes in a one-way street, Levi indicating for him to park in front of a two story building, one of the few of the kind that he had distinguished in the streets that had led them there, nestled between taller albeit just as old constructions. 

Levi got out of the car once they came to a stop, silently standing before the small, ancient building. 

Erwin followed suit, noticing as he too faced the building that the first floor looked like an abandoned store or business of some kind, the tall entrance door surrounded on both sides by two large windows that had probably served as display windows at some point in time, now obscured by shutters.

“Do you want me to come in with you, Levi?” Erwin asked as the other man got keys out of one of his pockets. 

He expected a sarcastic reply for his efforts, could already hear a dry response in Levi’s voice in his mind (something along the lines of _If I wanted a chauffeur I would have just called mine, Blondie, it would have spared me your shit driving_ , Erwin could imagine). 

Instead, the answer came to him in the form of a soft, “Please, do” from Levi. The man had not looked back at him as he had answered, busying himself with turning the key in the lock before him. 

Erwin followed him in quietly as the heavy door opened to what he figured out was some kind of workshop. Multiple dress forms occupied part of the small space, some devoid of any clothing, others covered by garments at a more or less finished state.

On the other side of the entrance, Erwin saw a few waiting chairs facing a large mahogany counter, beyond which laid a second room, partly obscured from view.

That room, he found out as Levi led him behind the counter, was actually more spacious than the first one.Erwin discovered a couple of tables there, on top of which sewing machines were placed. The wall near the tables was made up of shelves where, from what he could see, all types of fabrics and equipment were neatly stored.

Levi led him towards the back of the room, past empty clothing racks and to a worn out, large couch. Erwin instantly sat down on it, his eyes following Levi as he reached for something in the dresser near the couch. 

Once he had seemingly found what he was looking for, he sat down next to him on the couch, laying his head on the back of it. 

Erwin looked at his profile as he did so. 

He took in the way his eyebrows were turned down into a frown, the upturned slope of his nose, the clenching in his sharp jaw, the curve of his neck. 

He took in the way Levi's chest rose and then fell as he took a deep breath. 

As he looked down at the old notebook the man was clutching in his hands, he told him encouragingly, “I am listening, Levi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello there <3 as always, thank you for the kudos and comments on the last chapter!
> 
> i really wanted to write this part in erwin's pov, i hope the fact that that's two erwin povs in a row isn't too unsettling.  
> this chapter and the next one are a bit more ~serious than the rest of the story but it won't really get angsty.
> 
> hope you enjoyed! would love to read your thoughts as always!
> 
> see you guys next time!


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